Community Outreach Project

The Country Club Animal Clinic participates in Community Service events on a regular basis. Community Service is important to those who benefit from it, and to those taking part in it. Our staff is encouraged to perform community service, and Country Club Animal Clinic offers several opportunities throughout the year. These experiences change the lives of everyone involved.

The Duroville Project

In January 2010, Dr Roberts and her staff volunteered to take part in a project aimed at improving the lives of pets belonging to migrant workers in a dismal trailer park outside of Thermal, California. The community is on reservation land, and pet “ownership” is often casual, amounting to providing limited food for animals that have been dumped by uncaring owners or have otherwise found their way to this impoverished but proud community. Organizing the effort required coordinating state and country health officials (many of the dogs were covered in ticks, and most were presumed unvaccinated against Rabies and other diseases) with local veterinarians, local animal agencies, and two national animal advocacy groups: The Humane Society of the United States and Best Friends Animal Sanctuary.

Conditions were dismal. A freak rain storm inundated the area for a week preceding the big day. The OR was a multi-purpose building more typically serving as a church or meeting hall. It was located at the far back corner of the compound, requiring most volunteers to park near the front gate then hitch a ride with locals or slog through ankle-deep mud to get to the site.

Some of our patients were less enthusiastic than others!

Donated pet carriers served as holding cages.

Recovering from surgery: Each pet was attended by a volunteer until it was awake enough to be released. A Country Club Animal Clinic technician supervised, offering support and advice to those with little experience in post-operative care. A wide swath of bedsheets laid out on the floor (and donated by the Marriott Hotel Group) served as a Recovery Room. In many cases, this meant heading back to a hardscrabble life in the muddy lanes of Duroville.

Donations of pet food ensured that everyone would have plenty to eat for at least the near future.

Unfortunately, the van full of equipment that made this effort possible was soon disbanded by the HSUS due in part to budget constraints. It remains to be determined whether future efforts in this direction will be undertaken in the future.